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Chihuahua Facts

Senator Rogers Kelley, of Edinburg, Texas, was so enamoured of
the Chihuahua that he proposed in 1948 to introduce a resolution
at a session of the State Legislature to make the Chihuahua the
official dog of Texas. Said the senator: "Sure it came from
Mexico, but so did Texas".

Chihuahuas were first shown in this country at Crufts in 1936
(JWH Beynon, Dog World, 1949).

The first dog ever to have dined in the House of commons is
believed to have been a Chi, Mrs Thelma Gray's Rozavel Miguel. He
wore a green jersey and a "diamond" collar, and the
occasion was the annual dinner of the British Mexican Society in
December 1954.

None of our present-day Chihuahuas is descended from those that
were in this country before 1945. Mrs Lydia Cross's Palace Bambi
was here at that time, but the renaissance of the breed did not
come until 1949, when the late Mr DC Gott bred the first registered
bitch puppy - Una of Phoenix. The first two dog pups were Tizoc and
Chico of Belamie.

The first Chi to have been registered at the American K.C. was
"Midget" in 1904, owned by a Mr Raynor of Texas. The
first champion Chi in America was "Beppie" owned by Mrs
McLean, of New Jersey.

Chihuahuas are usually given strange and sometimes
unpronounceable names in Spanish or Mexican (Nahuatl) ore else
ordinary English Christian names, but breaking well away from
tradition were two seen in a Canadian newspaper in 1953. They were
"Get Off the Carpet" and "You Too"! Fortunately,
only tentative.

The American K.C. approved the separation of Smooth Coated and
Long Coated Chihuahuas as show varieties in and after August, 1952.
Long Coats were allowed at first to be 2lbs heavier ie. up to 8lbs
in weight, but revisions came later.

"Least Trouble - Most Fun" is the slogan of the
Interstate Chihuahua Club of New York.

The Chihuahua is considered to be the only breed of
domesticated dog truly indigenous to the American continent. (The
various hairless breeds of Central and South America are thought
to have originated in other parts of the world, and such American
breeds as the Boston Terrier 'evolved' by crossing other
breeds).

In November 1953, the Kennel Club granted the breed a separate
register. Up until then Chis had been classified, in this country,
under "Any Other Variety".

Mr LJ Egan of San Diego, California, exhibited Chihuahuas at the
World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. He claimed, in 1952, to have the
largest and oldest Chihuahua kennels in the world.